


It Aches So Bad

by WhoIsWren



Series: Hook, Don't Sink. [1]
Category: DreamWorks Dragons (Cartoon), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Bonding, Dragonese (How to Train Your Dragon), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Tag, Episode: s01e02 Viking For Hire, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Platonic Soulmates, Self Confidence Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24923002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhoIsWren/pseuds/WhoIsWren
Summary: The chaos and heartbreak a toothache can make.(1x02 Viking For Hire)
Relationships: Hookfang & Snotlout Jorgenson
Series: Hook, Don't Sink. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803628
Kudos: 39





	It Aches So Bad

**Author's Note:**

> I have a dozen other stories to write but I decided to start a whole new project. Clearly my priorities are in check.

All week Hookfang has been acting weird. Snarling, growling, and biting. Generally, Hookfang is a surly dragon but this is different. It’s only been a few weeks but Snotlout already knows his dragon pretty well and he knows something is wrong. He just doesn’t know what exactly is wrong and the stress and worry is making him anxious. It’s making the dark thoughts that always lurk in his mind louder and louder until he can’t deny the truth of them anymore.

They whisper, _this is your fault._

They crow, _he doesn’t want you anymore._

They shout, _you’re not worthy of a Monstrous Nightmare._

And Snotlout’s beginning to think the voices are right. The truth of his darkest fears is made all the more poignant when it’s reflected in his father’s eyes.

Spitelout had been against training dragons, like so many other Vikings that thrived off killing these magnificent beasts, so it was safe to say he wasn’t all that thrilled to see his own son riding a dragon. His father barely let Snotlout sleep at all that week, always piling him with more and more chores until he was practically dead on his feet.

Spitelout never needed to use his fists to inflict pain.

After the initial disgust Spitelout seemed to realise exactly what dragon his son was riding. From then on there was something in the Viking’s face that Snotlout never thought he’d see directed at him.

Pride.

The thing Snotlout wanted most of all was for his father to be proud of him, and now it looks like he’s finally got it.

“Only the best go after Monstrous Nightmares,” he’d say, shoulders back and head high. It was another mark of greatness for the Jorgenson clan.

That pride that he’d longed for all his life is slipping further and further from his father’s face the longer Hookfang keeps acting out. Snotlout is hanging his head and snuffling his feet by the time Stormfly’s spikes pin him to the wall in the academy. He’s given up, there’s nothing more he can do to reach Hookfang or reclaim that pride. It’s been a week of odd behaviour and that pride is now replaced with disappointment and embarrassment.

Snotlout chooses to say attached to the wall rather than face that look on his father’s face again.

A part of him stays on the wall the avoid Hookfang as well. He doesn’t blame the dragon for what’s going on between Snotlout and his father, but he thinks he must have done something awful to Hookfang to make the dragon recoil from his touch and snarl at him constantly.

Snotlout isn’t the most sensitive of Vikings but Hookfang isn’t a sensitive dragon either, it’s something they bonded over. Now, the young Viking is questioning everything because maybe if he’d been nicer to Hookfang the dragon wouldn’t despise him so much.

They don’t even try and communicate anymore, Hookfang just snarls and growls and flies away whenever Snotlout tries to get near him. It’s a crushing blow, to have someone you thought wanted you leave you again and again.

Only the best go after Monstrous Nightmares, and Snotlout is clearly not the best.

When Hookfang attacks the village Snotlout knows Spitelout will never let him live this down. As much as the fear of his father overwhelms him Snotlout desperately tries to reach Hookfang. He tries to apologize and he even begs the dragon to calm down. Nothing works. Hookfang is lost to him; maybe he never had him in the first place.

It might have been a bruise to his ego to ask Hiccup for help but Snotlout is realising there is nothing he wouldn’t do for his dragon, even if said dragon no longer wants him.

The relief he felt when Gobber didn’t kill Hookfang was so immense both he and his dragon completely forgot about their surroundings and nuzzled and embraced each other.

It was filled with croons of _sorry, sorry, sorry._

And giggles of _love, relief, joy._

Later that night, when it was just the two of them and they could both let their guard down, the two relaxed within each other’s embrace. Snotlout had run his hands all over Hookfang’s enormous body, trying to prove to himself that Hookfang was really still here and still wanted Snotlout.

That might be the hardest thing to comprehend.

Hookfang still wanted Snotlout, he chose Snotlout again. Snotlout hasn’t had someone choose him before, it’s a heady feeling and one that fills him with doubts.

Only the best go after Monstrous Nightmares, and Snotlout doubts very much that he’s the best.

Hookfang, sensing his rider’s melancholy, nudges his head against Snotlout’s stomach. Snotlout looks into those reptilian eyes and feels pressure build behind his eyes. It’s been a long day, a long week, and Snotlout can’t hold it in anymore.

“I thought you didn’t, I thought I did something wrong and you, you didn’t want me anymore,” he whispers, ducking his head so he doesn’t have to look into Hookfang’s expressive eyes.

_“Silly human. Chose you. Always want you.”_

Snotlout isn’t as great at understanding the dragons as Hiccup, but he’s definitely better than the other riders. Astrid is too focused on athleticism and perfection to properly listen to Stormfly. Fishlegs concentrates on the emotional things too much and Meatlug is more than happy to be pampered than try and teach her human any dragon words. The twins hardly understand other Vikings, let alone dragons.

Snotlout is surprised how well he’s picked up the language. Maybe it’s because he and Hookfang are so similar, they understand each other on a primal level, they both know what it’s like to be told you’re worthless, and they understand the need to be strong.

Dragons don’t exactly speak in sentences or words. They croon and garble, they use their bodies as much as their voices to express themselves. Sometimes it’s just a feeling shared between them that let’s Snotlout know what Hookfang is saying.

Tonight, he can hear Hookfang perfectly.

Their words, their touch, and their fragile smiles heal the ache that lies deep within both their souls. It’s a never-ending ache that cannot be healed in a day, but it’s soothed by the presence of the one that chose them.

Finally someone is choosing them.

**Author's Note:**

> I seriously adore Snotlout and Hookfang, almost as much as I love Hiccup and Toothless.


End file.
